Leadership Team

Richard joined the NCC following his role as Senior Vice President (SVP) for Business Development and Strategy at GKN. Richard joined GKN Aerospace in July 2009 as Technical Director and in 2010 became SVP for Engineering and Technology, before assuming the role of SVP Advanced Metallic Technologies in December 2014. Prior to this, Richard was at Airbus where he was part of the Strategy and Future Programmes organisation. He joined Airbus as an undergraduate apprentice in 1993 and subsequently he spent six years in various leadership roles on the design and manufacture of the A380 wings. He was then appointed Deputy Head of Engineering in the Wing Centre of Excellence, responsible for technical integration topics across all Airbus programmes before joining the Strategy and Future Programmes organisation. Richard holds a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering.

Jo is the Chief Business Officer at the NCC. In this role, she leads on strategy implementation, policy and public affairs and strategic partnerships with industry, business, innovation and place-based organisations and networks. Before joining the NCC, Jo held senior leadership roles across the public and private sector, all with innovation and partnership working at their core. This included appointments as the first Director of the Western Gateway (the UK’s first cross-border economic Powerhouse), in bp’s Future Mobility and Solutions and Regions, Cities and Solutions segments, at the Royal Society (the UK’s National Science Academy), the UK Government Office of Science and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Richard started at the NCC in 2017 following a 20+ year career in Aerospace and Defence companies where he held roles including Chief Engineer for a number of Helicopters at Leonardo, Head of Design at GKN and Engineering Manager at Thales Defence. He is a Chartered Engineer with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering and Bachelors in Electronic Engineering, but considers most of his engineering knowledge to have come from projects in his workshop, motorcycle maintenance and repairing things that his children have broken. His current role at NCC as Director for Engineering and Manufacturing draws on a combination of the above life experience to lead a team of 250 engineers through a wide variety of projects, whilst also looking after £100m+ of state of the art advanced manufacturing facilities.

Tim leads the Operations functions at the NCC, and is responsible for all aspects of finance, people, estates, IT, procurement, legal and governance matters. Tim brings extensive experience from the Higher Education and Research sectors, having joined the NCC from the University of Bristol, where he was Finance Director for the faculties of Engineering, Social Science, and Arts, as well as all Professional Services. Prior to the University Tim worked at the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UKRI, and at the National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton.

Katy has over twenty years’ experience working within innovative advanced engineering organisations. She spent the early part of her career in Rolls-Royce where she managed complex programmes and ran operational delivery teams across the globe for the Marine sector. During this time, she developed her skills in creating and running diverse, multifunctional teams to deliver innovative change. Katy joined the NCC in 2015, and her current role focuses on providing transformational services to the UK manufacturing and engineering sector to help increase productivity and ensure that the right skills are available at the right time and in the right place to anchor innovation and stimulate growth. Katy is also responsible for workforce development across the UK network of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult which covers over 15 advanced technologies including Digital, Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Materials and Metallic Forming.

Mark brings the benefits of his multi-sectoral and diverse career to this challenging role. A fourth-generation engineer, Mark followed his apprenticeship in production engineering with roles in multiple industrial sectors in the UK and beyond, focusing on manufacturing systems, engineering innovation, programme management, and in-service support. While working Mark studied and gained a degree in Manufacturing Systems, leading to a move into a more research-focused role when he joined Airbus as a Senior Research Engineer, later progressing to become Head of Manufacturing Research for Airbus UK. Mark moved into a strategic leadership position with the Aerospace Technology Institute in 2015 to deliver programmes of work that supported the governments national aerospace strategy within structures, materials, and manufacturing. Mark joined the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in 2019 to lead the Advanced Engineering activities, ensuring NPL created national and international impact through innovation programmes. Mark joined the NCC in 2022 as the Strategic Development Director. He works with the NCC Leadership Team and external stakeholders to develop and implement the NCC strategy, including identifying and developing the strategic priorities and delivering the strategic initiatives aligned to these priorities.

Group Director Climate, Environment & Infrastructure BAE Systems Plc Dr Deborah Allen is a chemist by background and has more than 30 years sustainability experience across both consultancy and industry. Currently leading the global programmes on climate resilience, environment and infrastructure at BAE Systems. Deborah is vice chair and non-executive director of the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership and chairs the Green Defence Task Force for the European Aerospace, Defence and Security (ASD) group of companies. Deborah also serves as a trustee for the BAE Systems Executive Pension Scheme.

Zoe Barnes has worked in the wind industry for 19 years, initially in R&D for a turbine manufacturer and more recently in offshore wind strategic consultancy. In 2019 Zoe was part of the leadership team establishing Quaybridge, an independent offshore wind developer. Zoe is currently a partner in Everoze, working primarily within Quaybridge, work is primarily focused on innovation, supply chain and industry strategic development. Zoe is also a NED for OWGP and is currently co-chairing the UK FLOW Task Force Working Groups.

Dr Ruth Mallors-Ray is a consultant facilitating discussions between industry, government and academia. Ruth’s current portfolio spans a range of sectors including manufacturing, aviation and emergent sectors such as Hydrogen. Ruth has also held positions as the Chief Operating Officer of the Aerospace Technology Institute and Director of the Aerospace, Aviation and Defence Knowledge Transfer Network to develop a deep understanding of how government, industry and academia work together on innovation agendas. Ruth supports the NCC, not only with a wide understanding of innovation, but also diverse sectoral experience with a career involving professional services, retail, engineering and oil and gas. Ruth holds a BSC and PhD in Chemistry, is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services in science and innovation.